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The cyclic initiative is simple and I think it fits D&DN design goals. But if it was to change, I'd suggest a radical idea: get rid of initiative entirely. What I mean is: 1. Everybody declares their actions. Declarations can be changed until everybody is satisfied with theirs. 2. Everybody...

Lame oracle cannot take Cinder dance. Go with Metal oracle and Dance of blades for the same effect without this restriction. It may also be worth it to spend a feat for Extra revelation and take Armor mastery for full speed in medium armor.

Of all the options discussed here I like spell failure the least. If spellcasting required a roll and armor gave a penalty to it, it would be OK - but adding a separate roll just to check if the spell is disrupted by armor is a bad idea. All other approaches are fine for me - as long as they...

If you don't want the PCs to die because of dice rolls, play a game where dice rolls never kill characters - there is a lot of games that create meaningful conflicts and dramatic tension without lethality. Or openly houserule the game you like to keep PCs alive. If you play a game where dice...

What I like: - Many tactical options without a need for a long spell list - Using real time measurements instead of "encounter" - Tapping exhausting your magical energy in general, not just for a single spell (significantly less bookkeeping) - A nice flavor that makes me think of prepared spells...

First, what I want from combat maneuvers: - They should be possible for everyone, but significantly easier for appropriately trained characters (fighter, monk) - Every maneuver should be useful sometimes, but none should be always optimal; their usefulness should depend on tactical situation. -...

There is one more question to be asked: How do we want the setting (with its magic) to interact with gameplay? Do we want a world that is, in itself, consistent? Then, magic can't allow one to "do anything". It needs clear rules - and the people in the game world will use and abuse these rules...

The playtest rules are not perfect, but even in their current form they are close to "perfect D&D" for me. That does not mean I'm going to abandon games I currently play and switch completely to D&DN. I play several games, each of them different, each of them satisfying different needs. I'm...

I think that's something that the people complaining about long rest giving all HPs and hit dice back didn't notice. In most cases, it is impossible to get a full night rest in a dangerous place. A single random encounter (or a single kobold, purposefully disrupting the rest) ruins the night...

Many games use player-defined traits to describe character personality and to give it a mechanical significance. It works much better than numeric ratings for a long list of qualities, because it helps the player focus on what is most important for the character's personality. I like games that...

Everybody starts combat with a number of tokens and get a number of tokens every round (these numbers may be dependent on characters' stats). Each round, everybody declares an action and secretly bids a number of tokens. When two actions oppose, the one with more tokens succeeds and the other...

In my experience, the best way to enable running away is to make it very easy - but at the same time make sure that there are significant stakes in most encounters. In other words, if PCs want to run, in most cases they can do it with no effort. Just cut to the next scene "Half an hour later...

Why can't the players themselves decide what ties their characters together? In my experience, the best way of creating a cohesive party is to sit together and decide on characters' backgrounds in cooperation. Players discuss who they want to play, why they work together, what goals and...

I begin a lot of posts on these boards with "it depends". This one is no different. So, the feeling I get from varying odds depends on several factors. The probability of a successful roll is nearly meaningless without defining two crucial things: the consequence of success and of failure. If...

For me, it's completely dependent on the assumptions the game makes about how HPs work. When I ran 3e, HP loses were physical wounds. With non-magical HP recovery taking one-two weeks and magical recovery being "cure wounds" spells, it was the only interpretation that didn't require changing a...

Old: Lighter rules, with fast character creation and gameplay focused more on player-player (including player-DM) interactions than player-rules interactions. New: Truly abstract HPs and healing surges. Naming must change, but the general idea is great. Borrowed: Negotiated conflict stakes and...

My main advice is: aim for simplicity. Unless you want to make the system very tactical, light ruleset will works better than a complicated one. What does it mean for skills? Just a few ideas (not necessarily to be used together): 1. Binary skills. Either you have a skill or you don't. If you...

I never read or played HeroQuest, but I read several of your posts referencing it. I also experimented with this kind of idea some time ago in a homebrew game we created with my wife. It's not the most natural type of mechanics for myself - but for me the mechanical balance is of much lower...

Why don't look at it as a win-win scenario? Either you overcome what gets in your way, win your stakes and your satisfaction and shape the fiction your way, or you get something to help you win the next time. And both ways, what happens is interesting. You keep winning and things become...

Why not just remove the readied action requirement for counterspelling and allow doing it once per round as an AoO-equivalent? It would make counterspells much more useful tactical option, without spellcasters completely locking each other (as one still needs either the same spell or a dispel...